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tihZ_hO
Post Roaster
Joined: Feb 17, 2004
Posts: 4200
Location: Shanghai / Jakarta
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  Posted:
July 04, 2009 - 01:31 AM |
 
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| Post subject: City Shop Hongmei Lu - Thawed frozen food! CAREFUL!! |
Thursday evening I went to City Shop Hongmei Lu store and what I saw alarmed me.
The chest freezer which you see in front of you as you come out of the lift was not working or not working well.
So much food was partially or COMPLETELY thawed. The thermometer on the side facing the cereal showed 9C! This is the side with the bagels. The opposite side the temp gauge was OFF.
This is a never ending saga with this City Shop store - poorly maintained frozen food for whatever reasons.
I alerted the staff who then gathered for a conference. I had to leave so I don't know what the outcome was. Dollars to (thawed) donuts the food that was thawed or partially thawed will still be offered for sale.
CONCLUSION:
Be diligent with the food you are buying, you are in China where no one really cares about the quality of the food they sell. Check the cartons of frozen foods - do they look "old"? When food thaws the carton soaks up water and will swell and distort.
Look at the plastic bags, are there many ice crystals on the inside surface of the bag? Does the food feel hard or soft when squeezed? It should be hard frozen.
Look for the freezers temp gauge - it should read -17C or close
Look for the LOAD LIMIT LINE on the back wall of all chest freezers - its clearly marked. Any food loaded above this line may thaw or partially thaw. This is especially an issue with City Shop and others too.
You are paying PREMIUM prices for this food, you are entitled to have it in the best condition. If its not tell the manager, post it here but don't accept it, why should you? Why pay for good food and get crap? |
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Battered deep fried butter, donut hamburgers, is it any wonder America has more body mass than China. China is the counterweight for America or else the Earth would be unbalanced and fly into the sun. |
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Rumpelstiltskin
PopStar
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 1293
Status: Offline
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July 04, 2009 - 01:39 AM |
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The only frozen food I buy is ice cream |
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yu888
Board Deity
Joined: Jan 25, 2003
Posts: 19241
Location: ZhongShanParkArea SH
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July 04, 2009 - 02:32 AM |
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The load limit issue is a widespread issue trhoughout China at almost all supermarkets so everyone oght to be careful about this. getting thawed and refrozen foods occurs WAY too often regardless of the premium or not. problem is that en route, the refrigerated trucks for many legit distributors are also not cold enough, if even on as drivers try and save gas...:S Or just go out at 4-am and watch the sides of pork transported by bike... :S |
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The right to free speech does not grant you freedom from the repercussions of what you say. This and more on my Blog...Random Thoughts about Living in Shanghai...and more |
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victorinchina
Board Royalty
Joined: Jan 17, 2009
Posts: 7075
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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July 04, 2009 - 07:57 AM |
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^ Sides of pork, big bags of shrimp, tied up chicken... Who needs refridgerated trucks when you got fresh air moto's 
| Rumpelstiltskin wrote: |
| The only frozen food I buy is ice cream |
I have yet to buy ice cream that wasn't already melted around the stick, when I opened it. |
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DrShanghai
Reacher
Joined: Nov 06, 2005
Posts: 318
Status: Offline
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July 04, 2009 - 09:26 AM |
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I never get up that early LOL |
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eagle1
Barker
Joined: Aug 08, 2008
Posts: 157
Location: shanghai
Status: Offline
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July 04, 2009 - 10:32 AM |
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i think tesco is better in this regard. they have some special pre packed meat in stores now and its so much better like UK.
city shop i have seen the same. it used to be a good store but its slipping by miles now
cant be too careful though ... |
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Hangzhou
Talker
Joined: July 17, 2008
Posts: 119
Status: Offline
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July 04, 2009 - 11:49 AM |
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I had this problem with Pines recently too - bought some expensive ice cream and it was gritty and clearly refrozen after being thawed - totally inedible. I'm ashamed to say I didn't get around to taking it back and complaining. Unfortunately a lot of the time it's impossible to tell if it's been refrozen from the packaging until you eat it and by then you're open for all sorts of food poisoning.
Pines has a real issue with it's fridges too - is a problem everywhere here I reckon - no accountability! I've had to point out that the fresh milk fridges are set at 15 degrees before now!! and they genuinely didn't understand why it was a problem! drives me crazy but you can't be sure how any food has been treated before you buy it here! |
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tihZ_hO
Post Roaster
Joined: Feb 17, 2004
Posts: 4200
Location: Shanghai / Jakarta
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July 04, 2009 - 02:05 PM |
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I've emailed City Shop and I urge you to do the same if you find either the quality or service not meeting your expectations.
customer@cityshop.com.cn |
_________________
Battered deep fried butter, donut hamburgers, is it any wonder America has more body mass than China. China is the counterweight for America or else the Earth would be unbalanced and fly into the sun. |
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jackfrost
Squeeker
Joined: June 04, 2009
Posts: 11
Status: Offline
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July 04, 2009 - 02:10 PM |
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I think it is also a widespread issue with food preparation and storage education. In my case we had to explain to the Ayi many many times that once food is defrosted can not be frozen again unless it is being cooked. She got the message know but I think still not understands why... I beleive she thinks it is our fixation and we do it because of taste not safety reasons! |
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zoolander
Barker
Joined: July 01, 2008
Posts: 175
Status: Offline
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July 04, 2009 - 02:32 PM |
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drivers working for the delivery here are not educated about the importants of the truck refrigeration..
theres too many tooooo explain about the mistake they make... but one thing though... they put all types of frozen stuff which is a big NO NO.. |
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tihZ_hO
Post Roaster
Joined: Feb 17, 2004
Posts: 4200
Location: Shanghai / Jakarta
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July 05, 2009 - 11:13 AM |
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This is the problem in China, people will do what they are told without understanding WHY, and they will never ask why either. Not understanding WHY something should be done a certain way means its not important . If it is NOT important then if it is not done then there are no problems.
Chinese people understand and know that drinking cold water is bad for your health. Try giving a Chinese person a glass of ice water.
Even if you explain to a Chinese person that refreezing food is for you the same as drinking ice water for them they still won't get it. Because this information wasn't hard-wired into their brains from birth they won't understand. Same as washing hands after pooping / peeing - sorry this has not been programmed...(beep)!
Blame the "Feed the duck" Chinese education system - The Borg
(Typo edits) |
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Battered deep fried butter, donut hamburgers, is it any wonder America has more body mass than China. China is the counterweight for America or else the Earth would be unbalanced and fly into the sun. |
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canuckian
Rocker
Joined: Aug 12, 2007
Posts: 666
Status: Offline
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July 05, 2009 - 12:43 PM |
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Why couldn't you just continue the discussion in the original thread you've created, tihZ_hO? |
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tihZ_hO
Post Roaster
Joined: Feb 17, 2004
Posts: 4200
Location: Shanghai / Jakarta
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July 05, 2009 - 02:42 PM |
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Sorry, it was late at night (early morning) and for what ever reason I didn't. It wasn't until later I thought I should bring it back up to the surface.
Sorry, mea culpa ...  |
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Battered deep fried butter, donut hamburgers, is it any wonder America has more body mass than China. China is the counterweight for America or else the Earth would be unbalanced and fly into the sun. |
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CityShop
Newbie
Joined: July 15, 2009
Posts: 3
Status: Offline
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July 22, 2009 - 09:51 AM |
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| Post subject: reply from cityshop |
We read the comment of a customer who’s unhappy with the frozen food in City Shop Supermarket. It’s said that partially thawed food or freezers were not at the correct temperature. Immediately we made the following decisions and put them into effect.
Firstly, employees are trained in the area of Frozen Food. It includes not displaying the thawed food in the fridge, controlling the fridge temperature strictly and improving the process of frozen food from freezer warehouse to fridge.
Secondly, the delivery process of frozen food is improved. We control the time of transferring products from freezer warehouse to freezer truck in 2 minutes and that from freezer truck to fridge in 5 minutes.
Thirdly, we’ll supervise the delivery process closely everyday to avoid the same incident happening again.
At last, If any customers notice any problems about our products or employee service, don’t hesitate and just let us know. You can contact the following e mail at any time: customer@cityshop.com.cn |
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tihZ_hO
Post Roaster
Joined: Feb 17, 2004
Posts: 4200
Location: Shanghai / Jakarta
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| Posted:
July 22, 2009 - 10:05 AM |
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| Quote: |
Firstly, employees are trained in the area of Frozen Food. It includes not displaying the thawed food in the fridge,
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Are you saying that any frozen food that has thawed will not be displayed until it is refrozen? Thawed frozen food should not be refrozen and offered for sale. FAIL! |
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Battered deep fried butter, donut hamburgers, is it any wonder America has more body mass than China. China is the counterweight for America or else the Earth would be unbalanced and fly into the sun. |
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